Newsletter 3/2014 - European Projects in the Pipeline

Despite weakening markets in the course of 2014 the European mining and minerals industry continues to follow its path to modernisation and expansion. Increased support from both governments across Europe and the European institutions in various forms have helped companies to continue to strive for growth and help Europe’s become less dependent on imports.

Industry, governments and society want commodities at lower prices; environmentalists want a greener industry; investors want less risk – extracting metal and minerals has never been more challenging. Finding new deposits often involves exploration in remote regions; getting the licences can involve navigating through bureaucracy and corruption, and raising the investment for the project is often near-impossible. The mining industry knows that if it had more, and better, data it could reduce risk, make smarter decisions and get to production faster.

The European Union is one of the world’s largest consumers of minerals and metals. Despite owning a sizable chunk of the world’s natural resources, nearly 60% of the bulk metals used in the EU are currently imported. In terms of gold, the EU accounted for only 1.2% of the world’s gold production in 2012. Canadian miner, Eldorado Gold, is working to grow this percentage.

LKAB´(www.lkab.com) can look back on more than 120 years of successful, sustainable mining striving to be in harmony with the environment and society in the Arctic region. LKAB presently produces around 90% of the iron ore mined in EU and specialises in high-grade iron ore pellets for steel producers. LKAB commands a market position as the world's third-largest and Europe's largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets.

Boliden’s future is strongly linked to our ability to secure new discoveries.

Exploration is the first step in Boliden’s value chain. This means that a long-term consistent exploration level is crucial in order to achieve our strategic goals and consequently securing our future.

Colt Resources has invested in two projects (Boa Fé – Gold and Tabuaço – Tungsten) in Portugal that have provided hundred of jobs for local people, thereby helping to boost the country’s economic recovery.